A law suit brought by environmental campaigners against the Norwegian Government over its decision to award production licenses in the Barents Sea as part of the 23rd licensing round has been witheld. The 23rd round, which saw licenses awarded in May 2016…
A wildcat well drilled by Statoil near the Gina Krog field in the Norwegian North Sea was dry, says the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD). The well, 15/6-14 S in production license 029 C, was drilled just north of the Gina Krog field about 250km west of Stavanger…
Australia's Santos is planning to drill the Paus Biru-1 exploration well on the Sampang production sharing contract offshore Indonesia, says partner Cue Energy Resources. Paus Biru is 27km east from the producing Oyong gas field. The…
It’s a smaller, more focused exploration world as we start 2018. Elaine Maslin discusses the main themes for 2018 with Wood Mackenzie’s Andrew Latham (First published in the January 2018 OE, access full issue here). Deepwater is very…
Taking a look back on the year that was 2017, our OEdigital.com website's most popular stories pretty much tell everything you need to know. While the industry is still adjusting to the downturn, the bright spots are few, but significant…
Italy's Eni says a production test on the Tecoalli-2 well, in shallow water Campeche Bay, Mexico, showed 'excellent production capabilities,' and increased estimates of oil in place in Area 1 to 2 billion boe, with about 90% oil. The well is in Contractual Area 1…
A total of 30 oil and gas discoveries were made in Q3 2017. Of these, 18 were conventional oil, one was heavy oil, one was unconventional gas, and the remaining 10 were conventional gas, according to analytics firm GlobalData. Among countries…
Global high-impact* exploration in 2017 is expected to match 2016 in both activity and success rates, and with a marked improvement in commercial oil volumes discovered and lower finding costs. High impact drilling commercial success…
Quadrant Energy is lining up drilling the Phoenix South-3 well in the Roebuck Basin offshore Western Australia, using Transocean's Development Driller-1 semisubmersible rig. The rig is about to start its voyage to Western Australia…
Petrobras and ExxonMobil have signed a memorandum of understanding regarding a strategic alliance to jointly identify and evaluate potential business opportunities. The memorandum of understanding was signed in Rio de Janeiro today by Pedro Parente…
Eni now estimates Area 1 in Mexico’s Campeche Bay to contain between 1.4 to 2 billion boe – 90% of which is oil -- thanks to Eni’s successful Tecoalli-2 well and revision to the reservoir models for the Amoca and Mitzon fields. Mexico's…
Australia's Santos has agreed to partly fund and lead a new 3D seismic survey over the beehive prospect in Australia's Bonaparte Basin in return for an up to 80% farm-in option in the permit. Santos calls Beehive, which sits on the WA-488-P permit…
Kosmos Energy's Lamantin-1 exploration well on Block C-12 offshore Mauritania has disappointed. The well, drilled in 2200m water depth and to a total depth of 5150m, hit a water bearing reservoir with residual hydrocarbons. It is thought…
UK-based fractured basement reservoir explorer Hurricane Energy says a new competent person's report (CPR) across its Rona Ridge assets has seen an increase in its reserves estimates - by 231%. The report, by by RPS Energy Consultants…
West Africa focused African Petroleum has inked an agreement with Sierra Leone's Petroleum Directorate to enter a second extension periods on ultra-deepwater licenses SL-03 and SL-4A-10. The work programs for both licenses, in 3000-3600m water depth and containing the Leo and Vega prospects…